Mail-bag



2 Smeets-.3118,31 1' (No Modem MAIL BAG.

No' I Y* s, m M 0 f f 5 J., D .lll n .anld .M Y m E s m 2 m W M \\\\\\N\\\\\\ Mv .m v A l w Qu Mw 9 Z W/ Y (No Model.) 2 sheeis-shegt z.,

BJ-.BROOKS y MAIL BAG.'

No. 456,397. Patented-:July 21, 1891,."

A UNITED. STATES PATENT OFFICE.

.EDVARDVJ BROOKS, OF EAST'ORANGE, NET JERSEY. y

srnorrrcarroivforming part of Letters raten@ No. 456,397, dated Jury 21, 1891.

i Application filed February 3, 1891. Serial Il'o.` 379,950. (No model.)

To a/ZZ whom, tun/ay concern.l

Be it known that I, EDWARD J. BROOKS, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of East Orange, inthe State of New Jersey,

have invented a new and useful Improvement in Mail-Bags, of Wh ich the following is a speci- Iication.

This invention relates to improvements on the mail bags or pouches now in use by the Post Office Department; and it consists in certain novel features of construction'or new combinations of parts hereinafter set forth and claimed.

The objects ofthe invention are, first, to provide such bags with a peculiar style Aof Wide-open mouth and with strong and secure Y covers for the same, secondly, to facilitate sesize and-shape.

curing the fastenings of such bags against being violated by means of glass seals or like rigid seals of Celluloid as a preferred substitute for glass; thirdly, to supplement the main fastenings with means for applying padlocks and shackle-seals, either or both, together with the customary'tags, and so as to be used at the same time with such glass seals or rigid seals, or alternatively; fourthl y, to provide for quickly and readilycontracting or shortening a mail-bag, so as to facilitate handling and emptying'it when its full capacity is not required, and, ifthly, to form by a single strap a suitable shortening device and aconvenient handle, which may also constitute a guard for the glass or Celluloid seal of the improved mail-bag.

Two sheets of drawings accompany this specification as part thereof.

Figure 1 of the drawings represents a view of an improved'mail-bag from one of its lateral edges with the upper portion in vertical section. Fig. 2 is a small-scale perspective view of the same. Figs. 3, 4, and 5 are perspective views illustrating, respectively, the filling, fastening, and unfastening operations; and Fig. 6 is another small-scale perspective view illustrating a modification.

Like reference numbers indicate corresponding parts in the several figures.

The exible body of the bag (marked 7 in the drawings) may be of leather or of canvas or any other suitable fabric, with riveted or sewed seams or seamless and of any approved To its upper end I attach a rigid curb or box 8 by means of rivets 9 or in any substantial manner, so as to form a Wide-open mouth, which facilitates filling and emptying the bag. A telescopic mouth-cover 10 is tightly fitted to the box 8 and adapted not only to. close the open top of the same, but to embrace its sides down to the fastenings 9 and below the latter, so as to preclude access to these fastenings when the bag is closed, as in Figs. 1, 2, 5, and 6. f

The'mouth-box 8 and its lcover :10 are both preferably Iof paper-pulp,zwood pulp, or papier-mache indurated' and Waterproofed, so as to be seamless, non-metallic, and as light as practicable, as Well as strong and durable;

but the box maybe made of iron or other metal for greater rigidity, if desired.

The mouth-cover 10 is provided with a fixedly-attached metallic curb 11, having a rectangular vertical opening 12, Fig. et, the sides of which are parallel with and equidistant from the respective ends of vthe cover, and a pair of catch-holes 13, Fig. 1, in the ends of its inwardly-projecting inner rim, Which ends are in like manner located parallel with and equidistant from the respective sides of the cover, so that the latter may be turned end for end without effecting the relative location of said opening and catch-holes. The box 8 is vcorrespondingly provided internally With a pair of hinge parts 14, fixedly attached to its sides at mid-length, and with a pairof con1' bined fastening and seal-holder parts 15 15X, one of Which latter 15X is provided with a spring-catch 16, which interlocks with one or the other of said catch-holes 13, While together the parts 15 15X form a holder-recess 17, Fig. et, extending across their parting-line for the reception of a rigid but frangible seal 18 of glass, or glass and paper, or preferably ofcelluloid, so compounded and molded as to be suiiiciently brittle. A seal of the construction set forth in my specification, forming part of United States Patent No. 355,636, is represented in Fig. 1, and is preferred; but any make of seal may be employed.

' For attaching the customary tag 19, Fig. 2, and for applying a padlock 20, Fig. .2, or a shackle-seal of lead and Wire, for example, as

represented at 21 in Fig. G, or all or any of these, the `mouth-box 8 and cover 10 are further provided, respectively, with staples 22 ICOv 23, forming pairs, which are preferably duplicated at the respective ends or sides of the bag and arranged at mid-length or at midwidth, as the case maybe. Such staples may be riveted fast or otherwise securely attached in any approved way, and the supplemental or alternative fastening devices may be of any suitable kind.

For shortening the bag, as in Figs. land 2, when only a portion of its full capacity is required, and for so doing this as to form by the same means a convenient handle and a seal-protector, as in said Figs. l and 2, I provide one side of the flexible bag-body 7 with a buckle 24 immediately below the mouthbox S and a sufficient number of keepers 25, and its other side with a buckle 2G, matching said buckle 2st, and with one or more shortening-buckles 27, reversed relatively to said buckle 26 and located below it, but in line therewith and with said buckle and keepers on the other side of the bag. The mouthcover l0 is also further provided with a pair of keepers 2S on its front and back sides, and all the buckles and keepers are located at mid-width of the bag, as shown. A single strap 29, to which said buckles and keepers are fitted, and which is of the requiredlength and perforated at both ends, is attached to the bag by said buckle 24, or it may be lixedly attached at the same point. Its lower end when not in use occupies the keepers 25, as in Fig. 5. When the bag is to be shortened, the strap 29 is disengaged from one or more of the keepers 25, the lower end of the flexible body is rolled up, as at 30 in Figs. 1 and 2, and the extremity of the strap end is fastened by the buckle 27, as in these figures, so as to retain the bag in its shortened shape. The upper end of the strap 29 hangs loose, as in Figs. 3 and 5, when the bag is unfastened or in process of being unfastened. In use it passes through the two keepers 2S on the mouth-cover l0 and is fastened by the buckle 2G. That portion crossing above the mouthcover may be left sufiiciently loose to form a central handle 3l, as in Fig. 2 and in full lines in Fig. l, or by simply drawing out the slack at some other point, as at 82, the strap forms an effective seal-protector 33, as represented in dotted lines in Fig. l. In filling or emptying the improved bag the said' fastening and seal-holder parts l5 15X within the exposed mouth-box 8 are swung outward, as in Fig. 3, so as to leave the wide-open mouth unobstructed. To fasten the bag, said parts 15 l5 are swung inward and a seal 1S is slid endwise into the seal-holder recess I7, as in Fig. et, and the mouth-cover l0 is then pressed down until the spring-catch IG snaps into one of the catch-holes I3. One or more tags 19, padlocks 20, and shackle-seals 2l, any or all, may then be applied to the staples 22 23.

Alternatively one or more padlocks or shackle-Y seals may be used alone in some cases, as at oil'ices which are not furnished with the glass or Celluloid seals. Finally the strap 29 is fastened over the mouth-cover so as to form a handle 31 or seal-protector 33, as above.

To unfasten the bag when the glass or celluloid seal 1S is used, the strap 29 and supplemental fastenin gs, if any, are first detached, so as to render the mouth-cover stripped, as in full lines in Fig. 5. The seal 18 or its thin portion 3l, Fig. 1, immediately above the retracting-stud of the spring-catch 1G, is then broken, the spring-catch is retracted, and the mouth-cover IO is released, so as to be lifted freely away from the box 8, as represented by dotted outlines in Fig. 5. The seal IS is readily so broken, and the spring-catch 16 retracted by a key 35 of the simple form represented in Fig. 5, or by a wire or nail if the key should be mislaid. If the seal 1S is used, the catch 16 cannot be retracted in any way without first breaking the seal, which thus affords the necessary protection against violation.

The buckles 2li, 2G, and 27 are intended to be strap-fastenings of any approved make. Details which have not been specified may be of any approved description.

Having thus described the said improvement, I claim as my invention and desire to patent under this specificationl. The combination, in a mail-bag, of a flexible body, a rigid box forming a wideopen mouth, attaching devices uniting said body and box, a telescopic mouth-cover, the sides of which mask said attaching devices when said mouth-cover is fastened, and means for so fastening said mouth-cover, substantially as hereinbefore specified.

2. The combination, in a mail-bag, of a flexible body, a fixedly-attached rigid box forming a wide-open mouth at the upper end of said body and provided internally with a pair of fastening and seal-holder parts and hinge parts for attaching the same, `and a telescopic mouth-cover having a central curb provided with an opening and catch-holes fitted, respectively, to said fastening and sealholder paris and to a spring-catch carried by one of them, substantially as hereinbefore specified.

3. The combination of a shortening-strap with a flexible mail-bag body, the lower end of which is adapted to be rolled up to shorten it, and which is provided with a suitable mouth and mouth-closing devices at its upper end and with means for attaching said strap to one side below the mouth, and keepers for the strap when not in use on one side of the bag, and one or more shortening strap-fastenings at or about mid-length on the other side of the bag, substantially as hereinbefore specified.

et. The combination, in a mail-bag, ot' a flexible body, the lower end of which is adapted to be rolled up to shorten it and which is provided with strap-fastenings and keepers on its respective sides, a rigid mouthbox fixedly attached to the upper end of said body and provided internally with a fasten- IOC IIO

ing protected by a frangible seal of glass or adapted to serve as a bag-shortener, a. han- Celluloid, a mouth-cover having a. central dle,audaseal-proteotor,substantially as herexo curb' through which said seal is exposed to inbefore specified.

View and provided with strap-keepers on its respective sides, and a strap having its re- EDWARD J. BROOKS. speotive ends perforated and tted to said Witnesses:

strap fastenings and keepers, all of which are H. L. C. VVENK,

at mid-Width of the bag, whereby said strap is L. F. HOVEY. 

